Occluding junctions in a renal cell line (LLC-PK1) with characteristics of proximal tubular cells.

At confluency, LLC-PK1 monolayers develop a transepithelial electrical resistance of 127 omega X cm2 and a spontaneous electrical potential that very seldom exceeds 1 mV. The monolayer shows a linear current-voltage relation in symmetrical solutions. The total conductance increases linearly with increases in the electrolyte concentration of the bathing solution. These characteristics indicate that the membrane that controls the permeability properties of the monolayer is a single membrane that it does not contain very weakly charged sites and it is sufficiently thick to obey the principle of microscopic electroneutrality. The sodium-to-chloride permeability determined from dilution potentials or from direct measurements of unidirectional Na+ and Cl- flux are 0.30 and 0.38, respectively, almost identical to the ratio obtained in the straight segment of the renal proximal tubule. The steady-state value of the electrical resistance depends on the Ca2+ concentration in the incubation medium with an apparent Km of 0.1 mM. A transitory opening of the occluding junctions results in a more uniform distribution of the Na+-dependent sugar transport system, which is normally confined to the apical membrane of the epithelial cell. This result indicates that the occluding junctions in LLC-PK1 monolayers act as a mechanical barrier, preventing the intermixing of extrinsic as well as intrinsic membrane proteins.